Element

Any Element owners? Happy/unhappy so far?
I'm thinking getting one
Any input welcome.
Thank you.

 

My girlfriend bought one in August. We're very happy with the vehicle.
We're outside Boston and our families live near Danbury and New Haven, CT,
so we've done several 2 to 2-1/2 trips in it with no comfort problems.
Seems a lot more responsive than the 2000(?) Civic we traded in on it.

What do you like about the Element that makes you want one?

The only problem we've had isn't so much the car as the dealer. When we
picked it up, they had it parked under a very sappy tree, probably pine.
The sap came off the metal parts easily enough but left a white reside on
the plastic which has refused all efforts to remove it. The salesman's
answer was to come back and have them clean it. When that didn't fix it,
his answer was to come back again. Not really what we were looking for.

-neil

 

It seems to be very roomy, without being a mini van. I like very much
the double doors and the somewhat spartan styling. I had my eyes on a
Rav4, but this year they turned into another luxury SUV, which yanks it
off my list. I wish thou, it had more power for its size.
Do you have the 4wd? auto or stick?

Make a test on a small area with turpentine or paint thinner to see how
the plastic reacts to it. That might clean the stains, but don't try
anything without testing first.
Nail polish solvent might work because it's not a very aggressive
solvent. But I would try first liquid photo-film cleaner which is
designed not to damage plastic.
Be careful car wax and polishing are very hard to clean from plastic
surfaces.



Neil wrote:

 

you cant go wrong buy it

 

So I should trust you blind and cough up the money, right?
You talk like a car dealer.
Thanx for your very informative advice, but I can do better without it.

 

I really like the concept of the Element, but my only worry is the stigma it
is getting as an ugly car and what that will do to the resale value. As far
as power goes, sure a little more HP would be nice, but the 160 is not
bad...and besides it is one of few SUV's(mini) that actually gets decent
mileage. The utility is very appealling, but the styling is iffy. If I get
one I will probably get the lego trim painted. Check out this one. It looks
nice all the same color. http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/345386

Greg

 

It's not bad; good for bringing home purchases whihc wouldn't have fit
the Civic and certainly won't fit in my Saturn. That was our main push
towards an SUV in general. She liked Honda, so it was down to the Element
for the CR-V. The CR-V looks just like every other small SUV so Elelment
won.

But back to the space concept. We're not going to be hauling around tons
of stuff. There's not a huge amount of cargo room with 4 people. But it
seats four very comfortably; I'm about 6' 2" and fit very comfortably in
the back, even with the front seats pushed all the way back as well.

I don't think I'd want to be dealing with child seats in the back; it is
a little awkward moving things in & out of the back.

4WD, auto (she doesn't drive stick and I'm not going to teach her on my
no-power-steering clutch-going-soon car). It handles curves pretty well;
sudden lane shifts aren't an issue (tho I don't plan on making any high-
speed swerves if I can avoid 'em).

The power is fine to us, but the again, consider what we're familiar
with.

Will give all three a try... if we get a warm enough day to be outside.


-neil

 

Strangely enough, I like "the look" of this car and the utilitarian
attributes won me. I don't care much about the resale value or what
other people's "stigma" plastered about its looks. Painting the plastic
trim it's a cosmetic addition which doesn't appeal to me. The paint on
plastic is very susceptible to chipping and flaking off. I didn't like
the red version, but generally I don't like red cars.
Another concern is access to the engine. This body formula looks like
the engine compartment is very cramped.

T

 

Neil wrote:

Yeah, me and my wife are not the short type either but there're no
children to haul around. Actually I was thinking taking out permanently
the rear seats. All our friends have minivans to move around the
kindergarten so for any outings I can put back the seats only if needed.
The extra cargo space is needed for my wife's recent weekend addiction
to Ikea shopping. Which brings me to the second issue, the tranny, which
must be stick so I can have a relative control over this Ikea thing. ;-)
My wife drives only auto.
Jokes aside, it has to be standard to squeeze everything out of the gear
box, engine being a little underpowered for my peace of mind.

I thought that the double door will be a big help in easing the rear access.

If I remember correctly the more exposure to the sun it gets, the harder
to clean will be, so don't delay it.

Thanx for the input, it is valuable.
T

 

I test drove one when it first came out and there were a few things i found
akward. I am pretty tall so I pushed the seat back and when i drove it it
felt like i was in the middle of the car and the column where the suicide
doors meet was directly to my left causing a slight blind spot.
I guess those are things you get used to after having a car though.
All criticism aside, I really do like these cars. If I was in the market it
would definately be in my top 5 list.
Good luck with your decision
Greg

 

Thank you for your opinion. I hope we can check it this weekend.

 

I am either getting an Element or Pilot for the wife..The only thing I
don't like the the dual tone... Painted the same colors improves that
car 150%...same thing with the Chevy Avalanche!

 

I hate it. I don't own one but I have seen several around town. I think
that the only reason Honda made such a vehicle was to compete with Toyota
which makes the Toyota Scion xB which is the same type of vehicle as the
the Element. Both cars are NOT aerodynamic and would probably turn over if
you went too fast around a sharp turn. I think the CR-V and Pilot would be
a much better vehicle to meet your needs.

 

Test drove an auto EX; liked it. It was very roomy, had a lot of pep,
handled well and stopped well. I like the open plan seating. After test
driving it, I went to get back into my Subaru outback and the outback felt
very small and cramped in comparsion.

 

Test drove an auto EX; liked it. It

Of course it's roomy, it's a friggin' BOX!

 

At http://www.elementownersclub.com they swear by peanut butter
(not crunchy ) to remove those white marks from the plastic panels.

 

We bought a EX 4WD A/T on 11/31 and we are very pleased with it. No
problems or defects yet. It's a lot of fun to drive. Good on gas.
Lots of accessories available at reasonable prices on eBay.